11/29/2004 @ 12:00AM

Spending Spree

A new breed of hockey owners hun-gry for star players have proven they can’t control their spending if left to their own devices.

Five years ago player costs represented 59% of the NHL’s total revenues. Last season they were 66% of revenues, as salaries have gone up 1.4 times as fast as revenues have since 1999. Teams like the Washington Capitals and the St. Louis Blues handed out multimillion-dollar contracts without the revenues to support the deals. Capitals owner Theodore Leonsis doled out the biggest contract in NHL history in 2001 to right wing Jaromir Jagr, in a seven-year, $77 million deal.

The Blues’ highest-paid player, left wing Keith Tkachuk, got a four-year, $40 million contract from the team in 2002. Yet both teams have revenues of less than $70 million (placing them in the bottom half of the league) and have had minimal playoff success in recent years. As a result the Capitals have lost $61 million over the past three seasons, while the Blues are $76 million in the red. For NHL owners, salvation is a $31 million salary cap, and they pray to Commissioner Gary Bettman every day that he can deliver.